New Federal Whistleblower Claim
Congress has created a new whistleblower claim under the recently passed Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008.
In short, the Act creates a cause of action for employees who blow the whistle on product safety issues. For all you legal junkies, here’s the language in all its glorious legalese:
No manufacturer, private labeler, distributor, or retailer may discharge an employee or otherwise discriminate against an employee with respect to compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because the employee, whether at the employee’s initiative or in the ordinary course of the employee’s duties (or any person acting pursuant to a request of the employee) . . .
(1) provided, caused to be provided, or is about to provide or cause to be provided to the employer, the Federal Government, or the attorney general of a State, information relating to any violation of, or any act or omission the employee reasonably believes to be a violation of any provision of this Act or any other Act enforced by the Commission, or any order, rule, regulation, standard, or ban under any such Acts;
(2) testified or is about to testify in a proceeding concerning such violation;
(3) assisted or participated or is about to assist or participate in such a proceeding; or
(4) objected to, or refused to participate in, any activity, policy, practice, or assigned task that the employee (or other such person) reasonably believed to be in violation of any provision of this Act or any other Act enforced by the Commission, or any order, rule, regulation, standard, or ban under any such Acts.
The law includes a penalty for frivolous complaints. Unfortunately, it only allows the targeted employer to recover a “reasonable attorneys’ fee” not exceeding $1,000.
Click here to see the full text.
The Bottom Line
As with other whistleblower claims, it’s critical that employers take employee complaints of wrongdoing seriously and do whatever is necessary to prevent retaliation based on those complaints.